Days before the Ballon d'Or, what Lionel Messi said about his absence in 2022

There are only six days left until the 2023 Ballon d'Or ceremony. Lionel Messi appears as the favorite candidate to win the award from France Football magazine just one year after not having been nominated among the 30 best of the year and it is an open secret that La Pulga will stretch his record as the top winner of this award to eight, three ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo.

Precisely the same thing is happening to the Portuguese that happened to Leo in the last edition and it is expected that he will soon make a statement about it. Now, the one who did speak about his absence in 2022 was the captain of the Argentine National Team. Shortly before the delivery that will define who was the best footballer of last season, La Pulga spoke with L'Equipe and said about his exclusion: "It was a difficult season (with PSG), but maybe he deserved to be among the top 30" .

He is right, and the Argentine star did not have his best season at Paris Saint-Germain when he arrived from Barcelona, but he still recorded better numbers than several of those who had been fired. That decision generated great discomfort among Argentine fans and was considered a new measure by the French press to discredit Messi. However, now they will have no choice but to surrender at his feet when he takes the stand on October 30 to receive the award for the eighth time in his career. It should be remembered that Lionel has just been awarded the FIFA The Best and Laureus awards.

Messi does not hold grudges and congratulated Benzema for winning the Ballon d'Or in the edition in which he was not present

In the same interview for L'Equipe, the man from Rosario said about Karim: “I think Benzema was a fair winner. He deserved it for the great year he had and his entire career. He is a wonderful player and that recognition was important for football”. Thus, the captain of Inter Miami gave a new lesson in humility.